The "Cleveland Butcher"
Suspect of Lawrence P. Scherb and William T. Rasmussen



Suspect's age at time of murder: Unknown.

Occupation: Unknown.

Whereabouts at time of murder: Unknown.

Physical and mental condition: Unknown.

History of violence: Serial killer operating in the Kingsbury Run area of Cleveland from 1935 through 1938; twelve victims attributed to suspect, an additional seven or eight victims are questionable.

Stress factors at time of murder: Unknown.

Link to the victim: Unknown.

Link to the signature and MO of perpetrator: Suspect sent communications to the Cleveland police. Dissection varied. Some of suspect's victims were bisected at the waist, washed, and drained of blood. All victims were killed quickly and then decapitated—an important departure from the signature of the Black Dahlia killer.

Link to the South Norton Avenue site: March of 1947, Cleveland Det. Peter M. Merylo contacted Los Angeles police and raised the possibility that the Cleveland murders might be linked to the Black Dahlia murder. Det. Merylo forwarded a copy of a 1938 letter received by Cleveland Chief of Police Matowitz. Letter was postmarked Los Angeles, California and dated December 21, 1938. Text of the letter: "Moved to California for the winter Head minus features will be buried in gully on Century Blvd between Western & Crenshaw."

Behavior after the murder: Unknown.

Additional comments: May 3, 1940, two dismembered males and one dismembered female severed at the waist, were found in the Lake Erie rail yards; heads missing. Murders probably occurred in Youngstown, Ohio around December 1939. Possible victims of the Cleveland Butcher.

William T. Rasmussen puts forth the theory that John Gilmore's suspect, Jack Anderson Wilson, is the Cleveland Butcher and the killer of the young girl Suzana Degnan in Chicago (1946).